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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24141118">Relative Limits</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzball457/pseuds/Fuzzball457'>Fuzzball457</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>K-Pop One Shots [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>K-pop, iKON (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Concerned Hyungs, Gen, Insomnia, It's all mild though, Jung Chanwoo-centric, Protective Hyungs, Sick maknae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:09:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,439</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24141118</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzball457/pseuds/Fuzzball457</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Chanwoo knows he’s overdone it when Yunhyeong shakes him awake in the morning and he barely stops himself from rolling over and losing his dinner on Yunhyeong’s polka dot slippers."</p><p>iKON's maknae makes a few regrettable decisions and faces the consequences.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jung Chanwoo/Everyone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>K-Pop One Shots [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591903</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>130</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Relative Limits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is part of a multifandom K-pop series of one-shots that will include hurt/comfort, angst, all sorts of emotional struggles, probably some exploration of sexuality, polyamory, etc. Some will be canon, some AU. Although this isn't request-driven, feel free to leave a comment if there's a certain idol and/or situation you'd like to see! I can't make any promises because I don't have much time to write so sometimes you've just got to follow the muse - but I'll do my best. </p><p>---------------------------</p><p>Honestly I feel like there's not enough iKON fics, specifically not enough about Chanwoo so here we are. This was supposed to be like a thousand words, and I don't know what happened. I'm way behind on my 1 fic a month goal, but oh well. </p><p>Also, I don't know if it's weird to call everyone by their full names but call Bobby, "Bobby", but that just felt the most natural to me. What do y'all think?</p><p>Enjoy :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chanwoo knows he’s overdone it when Yunhyeong shakes him awake in the morning and he barely stops himself from rolling over and losing his dinner on Yunhyeong’s polka dot slippers. None of them are strangers to a lack of sleep, especially with their practices running as late as they have been lately, but this is a new level of torture. It’s his own fault too, and he knows Hanbin will have his head when he finds out how late Chanwoo has been staying up gaming after their practices. They have a comfortable few weeks before their next round of comeback promotions, but their leader was prone to stressing early, as though the date might leap forward unexpectedly.</p><p>He can’t help it though. Even with only Hanbin and Yunhyeong in the dorm on this floor — the “clean house” — he still has to wait to use the shower and “killing thirty minutes” gaming turns into an hour, until one of the other two come to pester him to shower and sleep. But the shower does nothing but wake him up and he barely gives it fifteen minutes of staring at the ceiling in bed before giving up and logging back onto the computer. It’s the benefit of everyone having their own room in the two floor system, there’s no one to notice how late he’s staying up. He rationalizes it with the knowledge that Hanbin and Bobby pull ungodly hours all the time when they’re on a writing kick, cranking out new songs like machines. If they can power through practices and still pull all-nighters, on top of having a few years of age on Chanwoo, then he can certainly live with an hour or three less sleep than usual a night. When it gets a little closer to comebacks, he’ll get better. That’s his promise to himself. No need to crack down quite yet, no matter how many times Hanbin bursts into a sudden tizzy at a so-called lack of perfection in a song he’d produced. He still has time.</p><p>But if his pounding head and churning stomach are anything to go by, he’s plowed through the end of his tolerance. Time’s up. The sleep debt is too great, time to pay up.</p><p>“Shit,” he mutters as Yunhyeong disappears into the hall to start breakfast. They’re supposed to meet up for dance practice soon, followed by an afternoon of vocal practice and likely a small amount of recording to satisfy Hanbin’s constant urge to rearrange and change. It rarely ended up much different than his original imagining, and more than once Jinhwan had to put his foot down and demand a “final” product so they could start to get it into muscle memory. The bridge was practically written with Chan’s name on it anyway, so he usually spent most of his time on the couch in the recording studio, indulging in some mindless gaming on his phone.</p><p>His head gives a vicious pound of protest as he sits up and Chanwoo nearly hits the floor. He doesn’t think ‘I’m a dumb shit who stayed up too late’ will fly as an excuse to sit out of practice. He’d rather be spared Hanbin and Jinhwan’s eagle-eyed gazes of disapproval anyway. Aspirin and water usually go a long way, though he can admit it’s been a while since his body has felt this close to giving up. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how shitty feeling shitty can be.</p><p>He stubs his toe and hip checks the door knob on his way into the bathroom, a slew of curses tumbling from his mouth all the way. Christ, the universe really is against him. There’s one measly aspirin left in the bottle, dashing his hopes of instant relief and of sneaking a few pills into his pocket for later. Great. Maybe one of the managers can pick some up for him? Someone else might have some. It’s not like asking for aspirin is a crime. Everyone gets headaches, not just overly-exhausted gamers. No crime in a little headache, he thinks, tipping his head under the faucet to swallow the single tablet.</p><p>Hanbin’s door is still firmly shut as Chanwoo shuffles into the kitchen, tugging a sweatshirt over his head as he goes. It’s a joggers and sweatshirt kind of day and anyone who says otherwise can fight him. (Tomorrow).</p><p>“Morning,” Yunhyeong offers, waving a soapy spoon over his shoulder without turning around from the sink. There’s rice and a few fixings scattered around the table. Hanbin tumbles from his bed to his closet to the car with, generously, one spare minute, so the breakfast spread is always just for him and Yunhyeong. And normally, he appreciates it. He’s lucky he ended up with the best cook of the group as a dormmate. He knows it makes Yunhyeong happy to take care of them like this, yet Chanwoo can’t help but eye it all apprehensively as he drops into a stool at the counter.</p><p>His stomach is twisting itself in knots, but the thought of Yunhyeong’s efforts going to waste causes a greater pain in his chest. He serves himself a small scoop of plain rice and mushes it around a bit, hoping it looks like he’s already devoured a good chunk of the bowl.</p><p>Finishing up the dishes, Yunhyeong serves himself with far more care, organizing his breakfast to his aesthetic satisfaction before eating.</p><p>“You okay?” Yunhyeong asks, eyes peering up. Chanwoo hunches further into his sweatshirt and takes a quick bite for appeasement.</p><p>“Yeah, just a headache,” he mumbles through his bite. ‘Just’ might be a bit of a stretch. His eyeballs seem to be in danger of falling out at any moment from the pressure building behind them and even blinking is enough to set off the dry itchiness of his corneas. Vaguely, he wonders if they have eye drops somewhere, but even in the cleaner of the two dorms, things like that tend to be bought once and then lost as soon as their initial use is over.</p><p>He nearly tumbles off his seat as Yunhyeong’s chilly hand comes to rest on his forehead. His stomach spins for a second and he almost breaks his fingernails grabbing onto the edge of the counter as he swallows rapidly to keep his rice from suddenly re-appearing.</p><p>“Hm, you don’t seem to have a fever,” Yunhyeong observes. He pulls his hand back and stands up from his stretch across the counter. “But you do look kinda pale. Your eyes are red and I think maybe your eye bags have eye bags. Did you take anything?”</p><p>Chanwoo shrugs, keeping his gaze on his rice as he shoves it around with his chopsticks. His stomach is settling, but the thought of eating a single bite more is agony. “We only had one aspirin.”</p><p>“I’ll see if someone can bring you some from the other dorm,” Yunhyeong offers before picking up his phone and resuming his own breakfast.</p><p>Chanwoo’s own phone buzzes in his pocket and he bites back a groan of annoyance as he realizes Yunhyeong sent it to the group chat. Sure enough, when he pulls it out less than sixty seconds later, there’s an agreement to bring some medicine in the group chat as well as private messages from both Jinhwan and Donghyuk asking if he’s alright. Great, just what he needs. More eyes paying extra attention.</p><p>No, it’s fine, he reminds himself. The aspirin will take the edge off the pain and he can get through the day with an excuse of a headache for any spacey-ness. Then tonight, he’ll go to bed early and start paying off that debt.</p><p>--</p><p>He makes it almost all the way through practice.</p><p>There doesn’t seem to be enough water in the world to keep his head clear. He knows they’re cutting him slack when his moves aren’t as clean or sharp. Hanbin gives him a pat on the back and a reminder to “keep focused” when they take a break. It’s far gentler than usual. He appreciates it, even if he feels a little annoyed at his simple request for pain meds turning into some glaring warning for child-glove handling for the day. They mean well.</p><p>It makes him feel worse though. Guilt blossoms across his skin for every pat and conciliatory smile they send his way. It’s his own stupidity that got him here, vision swimming as he drops to the practice floor in between songs. He doesn’t deserve their sympathy when he’s merely reaping what he’s sown. He can’t help the anger that simmers in the back of his mind too, anger at his own body for being unable to handle the same conditions dozens of other idols deal with daily.</p><p>“Want a bite?” Donghyuk appears in front of him, holding out a bag of something salty, probably from the vending machine in the hall. Yunhyeong always tells him to bring something from the dorm to snack on instead of wasting money on that over-priced crap, but Donghyuk never listens. Normally Chan is more than happy to get the benefits of that bad habit, but today he shakes his head and ducks back down to face the ground. He doesn’t quite feel like he’s going to throw up, but he does feel nauseous in some vague way. Spit keeps pooling in his mouth and he alternates between feeling stuffed and hollow.</p><p>Donghyuk drops down next to him. “Wow, Yunhyeong-hyung wasn’t kidding, you must really be feeling like crap to turn down free food.”</p><p>“It’s just a headache,” he mumbles. If they would just stop asking, he wouldn’t have to feel like such shit for lying and refusing to admit his own culpability. Feeling like crap is enough punishment in and of itself, he hardly needs a lecture on poor health habits on top of it. Besides, they wouldn’t be nearly as accommodating to him flubbing routine after routine if they knew the real cause.</p><p>So if everyone could leave him alone and let him be miserable, that’d be great. Tomorrow he’ll do better and no one needs to know. Lesson learned.</p><p>“Let’s go again,” Hanbin calls from across the room, fixing his hair in the mirror before replacing his cap. Donghyuk rolls to his feet, shoving the last bits of his snack in his mouth and making his way to the trash.</p><p>It’s just thirty more minutes, Chanwoo thinks as he stands, right before everything promptly tilts sideways.</p><p>Pain ruptures along his shoulder as he hits the ground. “I’m fine, I just tripped, I’m fine,” he says on loop, even as his vision swims in and out, white spots blurring across like fireflies. He can’t hear his own voice, but he says it again and again, hoping it’s coming out normally. He doesn’t think he passed out, but Jinwhan and Yunhyeong are both right in front of him by the time his ears stop ringing.</p><p>“—you hear me?” Jinwhan is saying when things come back intto focus. Behind their crouched figures, Chanwoo can make out Hanbin watching with his arms crossed. His eyes are sharp as ever, but he rolls in bottom lip between his teeth in that way he does when he’s uncertain and unhappy about it.</p><p>“I’m fine, hyung, just tripped,” he repeats, praying it’s coherent. He shoves himself to a sitting position, which causes a mass fluttering of concerned hands, not to mention a few new stars bursting across his vision.</p><p>“Take it easy,” Yunheyong instructs.</p><p>“Should I get a manager?” Donghyuk asks from somewhere behind him.</p><p>“He said he just tripped,” Junhoe counters, but Chanwoo can practically hear him shifting in discomfort. Junhoe’s never been one for feeling uncertain either. He likes when he can be loud and confident. Worry has always hung on him the same way irritation does. It took Chanwoo a long time to separate the two.</p><p>“Chanwoo-yah, can you look at me?” Chanwoo complies, feeling like he’s underwater as he comes to face Jinwhan. The eldest rakes his eyes over him. “Can someone get him some water?” He asks over his shoulder.</p><p>“Here,” Bobby says, evidently having had the same thought already, as he extends a water bottle towards them. Bobby’s not like Hanbin or Jinwhan. His concern doesn’t roll off in waves of misplaced frustration nor does it come with tender ministrations. But it’s there. Chanwoo recalls the way the elder all but bullied him into going to the hospital to get checked out when he was struggling with exhaustion and stress during <em>Mix &amp; Match</em>. Bobby’s all back pats and lopsided smiles. It’s what Chanwoo prefers sometimes, a calmer, quieter worry.</p><p>“I’m fine,” he says again before taking a few sips of the water. It does feel good and it goes a long way to dissipating the ringing in his ears.</p><p>“You had a headache earlier,” Yunhyeong says, seemingly reminding himself.</p><p>“Yeah, but, it’s not like that. I mean, I’m just tired, which caused the headache, which caused me to trip,” he explains with a shrug. The last thing he needs is any hyungs leaving this room with some deep contemplation of his health status lingering in their minds. It’s not a symptom of something bigger. It’s just their good friend exhaustion.</p><p>“Alright, alright,” Hanbin says, finally moving into the circle. “Let’s all give him some space. Chanwoo, do you need to go home or do you just need a few minutes?”</p><p>He can’t help but appreciate the trust Hanbin is offering. The control, the option to make his own assessment, it feels nice. Having said that, he immediately begins flip flopping. The pounding in his head is still there and he’s not sure if he’ll stay on his feet for the rest of practice. Maybe the time would be more useful for the rest of the team if they weren’t focused on watching him? Yet, it feels deeply wrong to crawl home for a nap while the rest of them are working, all because he’s an idiot.</p><p>Christ, his head hurts too much for this, he thinks as he alternates his decision for the fiftieth time in thirty seconds. He lets his eyes close as he thinks. It’s nice in the dark. What are the options again? Can he just stay here in the dark?</p><p>“Hanbin,” Jinwhan says, some sort of scold in his voice. “He’s not well. Let the kid go home. We’re practically done anyway.” Great, conflict between leader and eldest. Exactly what Chanwoo wanted to incite. A few more heaping piles of guilt are just what the doctor ordered.</p><p>“I’m okay,” Chanwoo repeats for maybe the hundredth time. He keeps his eyes closed, head dropping onto his knees. It’s not helping his case, but his head is unbearably heavy. Just a minute of rest, he thinks. Just a minute and he’ll be fine.  </p><p>“Just go home, idiot,” Junhoe blurts from somewhere, voice a slushy mess as it rolls across Chanwoo’s ears. He should be upset, he thinks vaguely. He should snap back. Something witty. Something that would make Bobby smirk. He likes when the older members look at him with pride.</p><p>“Chanwoo?”</p><p>What do they need? Who even was that? Probably Yunghyeon telling him breakfast was ready. Just five more minutes of sleep and then he’ll get up for the day. Do they have schedules? He’ll ask later, once he wakes up fully.</p><p>It’s nice here in the dark.</p><p>--</p><p>He wakes up in his bed. The curtains are closed but grey evening light filters through the cracks regardless.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>His heart skips a beat because the point of having his own room is, you know, to be alone in his room and there is not normally people here just chilling while he sleeps holy shit.</p><p>But it’s just Donghyuk, spinning slightly side to side in Chanwoo’s desk chair. He locks his phone and drops it into his lap.</p><p>“Feeling better?”</p><p>“Get out of my chair,” he grouses, running a hand over his face and shifting until his shoulders crack. He’s not sure what day it is or even what month it is, but his head doesn’t hurt, so he’s doing better than the last time he was conscious. The morning is hazy, but he knows he didn’t make it through practice.</p><p>Shit.</p><p>“Excuse you, rude,” Donghyuk whines. “Here I am sitting by your death bed, keeping vigil over your ailing body and that’s the thanks I get?”</p><p>“I’m not dying, idiot,” Chanwoo says, grateful that Donghyuk will let him get away with such blatant disrespect. Something thrown at him, maybe, or an overly dramatic gasp are his usual punishments. He’s expecting whines and petulance, so he can’t help but look up in surprise when Donghyuk’s voice goes quiet and serious. </p><p>“Yeah, well, you looked pretty close to dying from where I was sitting today.”</p><p>“Donghyuk—”</p><p>“You completely passed out on us. I don’t think you so much as twitched when we brought you to the car for manager-nim to drive us home.”</p><p>“You <em>all </em>came home early because of me?” He can’t help the panic in his voice. He sits up urgently, like maybe they can all go back right now and make it up. It’s nearly suffocating, the knowledge that he not only inconvenienced them, but ended up completely preventing any of them from completing their schedule.</p><p>“Well, not <em>all </em>of us,” Donghyuk says, clearly taken aback by Chanwoo’s urgency. “Hanbin-hyung and Bobby-hyung stayed to work on some stuff, I think. They should be back soon, though. Yunhyeong-hyung’s making dinner and Jinwhan-hyung is…well, it probably can’t be called helping, but he was in the kitchen too last I saw.”</p><p>“And you and Junhoe?”</p><p>“Have you seen us try to feed ourselves? So we came for dinner too, and Junhoe said I was being obnoxious, so I came in here because you didn’t have any complaints about my wonderful company.”</p><p>We were worried, he doesn’t say, but it’s brutally loud anyway. It’s not unheard of for things to go south during practices. Pushing healing injuries too far or just general exhaustion getting to them, but it’s rare one of them drops quite as low as he did. It was probably surprising, maybe even scary. He wants to snap at them for coming back when he was just sleeping, but somewhere in there he knows it’s himself he’s grumpy at.</p><p>Instead of a sarcastic quip, he takes in Donghyuk’s carefully neutral face and offers a quiet, “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s not—”</p><p>“It is my fault,” he counters before Donghyuk can even finish the platitude. He runs another hand over his face before gesturing vaguely at his computer. “I’ve been having a hard time sleeping, so I keep staying up super late playing games. And it caught up to me, I guess. I’m dumb, I know it, you don’t have to say it.”</p><p>Donghyuk doesn’t say anything for long enough that Chanwoo looks up from where he’s squishing his comforter between his fingers. The other boy is looking at him with his head tilted. There’s not anger or irritation, like he expected, but this odd contemplation is unsettling nonetheless.</p><p>“What?” Chanwoo can’t help but ask.</p><p>“You haven’t mentioned anything about sleep problems before.”</p><p>“Oh,” he says, surprised. “Well, there’s not really any point is there? I mean, we’re all tired, right? And Hanbin-hyung, he pulls an all-nighter like every other night and he’s fine. I should be too.”</p><p>Donghyuk shakes his head, a small frown flitting over his normally cheery features. “That’s an exaggeration and you know it. But even if it’s not, what does it matter? We all have our own limits. If you felt like you couldn’t sleep or weren’t getting enough sleep or…or whatever, you should have talked to us, to the hyungs at least. Or me and Junhoe if you feel like someone closer to your age might be easier. I know we’re not, like, a super emotional touchy-feely bunch, but we are a team, you know? We’ll help you if you’re struggling.”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess,” he says, head dropping back to the bed. “I was stupid to let things get this far.”</p><p>“Yeah, but that’s okay. Lesson learned, right? Today can be a fresh start. And, I know we don’t live on the same floor anymore, but you can always text me, you know?”</p><p>There’s nothing but sincerity there. Chanwoo’s chest goes tight as he takes in the dedication on his band mate’s face. It’s the same out there, he knows. Yunhyeong and Jinwhan making dinner, probably alternating the mother hen role while Junhoe grounds them in reality from across the room, calling them out when their anxieties spill out too far. And Hanbin and Bobby. There’s nothing but distraction for their leader in times like this. Watching and worrying only triggers his own anxiety. His bed side manner is terrible anyway. Bobby’s there to keep him from getting lost in his own head and losing track of things like time and reality. They’re all just there, rolling with punches like they always do.</p><p>“Thanks,” he says quietly. After a moment of hesitation, he holds his fist out. Donghyuk’s face lights up as he reaches out to fist bump his dongsaeng. His smile eases Chanwoo’s guilt just a little.</p><p>It doesn’t last long.</p><p>The door opens and Hanbin pokes his head in. “Donghyukie, can you—oh! Chanwoo-yah, you’re up. Good. Let’s talk.”</p><p>“Aaaand that’s my cue to leave,” Donghyuk says, rolling to his feet and slipping towards the door. He pauses by Hanbin, reaching out a hand to rest tentatively on the elder’s shoulder. “Don’t be too harsh, hyung.”</p><p>The door clicks closed behind him and Chanwoo is left to his fate.</p><p>He doesn’t even get an apology out before Hanbin starts in. “Care to explain what happened today?” Hanbin leans against the door frame, arms crossed, making his boney shoulders jut out under his oversized t-shirt.</p><p>Chanwoo drops his chin to his chest. “I’m sorry, hyung.” He hopes it sound as sincere as he feels. “I…” Despite Dongyuk’s reassurances ringing in his ears, it still feels brutally stupid to complain to Hanbin of all people about not getting enough sleep. “I haven’t been sleeping well and I’ve been staying up late gaming when I can’t sleep, which probably doesn’t help and…yeah,” he trails off lamely. Perhaps if he stares hard enough at his bedspread it’ll spontaneously burst into flames and save him from this slow death.</p><p>“Imagine if we were really in the thick of comebacks. A stunt like that could have been disastrous.” Hanbin’s disappointment beats against him like a tidal wave, even without being able to see the other, but his hackles still rise at the unspoken accusation.</p><p>“I wouldn’t have…I was planning on getting better about sleep before comebacks. I’m not stupid.”</p><p>He can practically hear Hanbin’s eyebrow arching up at that. <em>Doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing, kid. </em></p><p>Instead of saying it, Hanbin sighs. It’s an aggressive little noise, but he keeps his aggression on the passive side, choosing instead to plop down heavily next to Chanwoo.</p><p>“You can’t be careless like that, Chanwoo-yah. You have a responsibility to take care of yourself. If not for you, then for us. For the fans.”</p><p>“I know,” he says quietly. A quiet rebuke always gets under his skin far deeper than a shout. “I just thought…like, it didn’t seem like a problem. Everything was fine. When aren’t we tired? But then it caught up with me, I guess.”</p><p>Hanbin cuffs him lightly on the back of the head. “Yah, so come talk to us, stupid. I’m sure Donghyuk said the same, but it probably takes a few times to get through your thick skull. Even if we don’t have any solutions, at the very least someone on the team should know to be keeping an eye on you. That’s the purpose of a team.”</p><p>“It feels stupid,” he finally admits, biting on his lips for just a moment. “I know others get less sleep than I do.” He gives a pointed look at the dark circles under Hanbin’s eyes. They have a permanent residence there at this point.</p><p>But Hanbin doesn’t so much as blink. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not a competition. Pain is relative and all that wise-sounding shit. So don’t let this happen again, okay? I’m the leader for a reason, and it’s not just my genius brain. You gotta tell me shit. Or someone, at least.”</p><p>“I’ll do better,” he promises, and means it, even if it’s just to avoid burdening his hyungs with this again. He’ll have to be more vigilant. It helps to think of it as a responsibility, like Hanbin said before. Taking care of his health is just part of the job. A good idol is vigilant at self-maintanence. It’s hard enough as it is, with brutal schedules and irregular hours. He can’t allow to give into self-sabotage.</p><p>And maybe the others have a trick or two up their sleeve if it continues to be a problem. Maybe there is something to be said for all that talking out your feelings crap. Jinhwan swears by a good cry.</p><p>The atmosphere is suffocating. It’s never like this between him and Hanbin. It’s just not how they roll. So he shoots his hyung a smirk and says, “Pain is relative, huh?”</p><p>It works. Hanbin cracks an awkward smile and scratches at the back of his neck. “Yeah, I think Yunhyeong had it on a poster once. Probably some famous philosopher or something. Who knows?”</p><p>A soft rapping on the door draws their attention.</p><p>“Speak of the devil,” Hanbin says as Yunhyeong’s head pops around the door. He looks relieved to see everyone conscious and in one piece.</p><p>“Chanwoo-yah, how are you feeling?”</p><p>“Better, hyung.”</p><p>“Up for some food?”</p><p>“Nothing sounds better.” The pinch of Yunhyeong’s eyebrows eases up at his answer. It’s just the beginning of the worry-soothing Chanwoo will have to do over the next few hours, but it’s only fair.</p><p>As he gets to his feet, he’s surprised to find himself genuinely hungry. The pain behind his eyes has eased and an aspirin or two before bed will set him straight for tomorrow. He can save dissecting his sleep issues for some other time. As is, he’s sure he’ll drop right off tonight by the time he lays back down.</p><p>Hanbin’s hand hovers on his back as he urges him to the door.</p><p>Good company goes a long way, he thinks, settling at the table, where Jinwhan and Junhoe are already bickering and Donghyuk is flicking food at Bobby with a spoon.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Pretty please with sprinkles on top leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed &gt;.&lt; They keep me going. </p><p>P.S. I love the "clean house" and "free-spirited house" system ikon has (used to have?). Kills me every time. </p><p>Stay safe &amp; healthy, everyone!</p><p>come say hi on tumblr @ rose-of-tori</p></blockquote></div></div>
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